The Copper Queens suffered a 2-0 defeat to South Africa’s Banyana Banyana on Tuesday in Pretoria, marking their third loss in six matches under head coach Nora Häuptle, who took over from Bruce Mwape in January.

The match was part of a Three Nations Challenge Cup, which also featured Botswana. South Africa had earlier edged Botswana 3-2, while Zambia were held to a 1-1 draw by the Mares.

Banyana Banyana, the defending champions of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), opened the scoring in the 75th minute through defender Bongeka Gamede, who found the net with a well-taken free kick. Six minutes later, a defensive lapse allowed Jermaine Seoposenwe to double the lead from close range, sealing the result.

Since taking charge, Häuptle has overseen six games: a 2-0 win and a 3-2 home defeat against Malawi, a 3-2 loss to Thailand, a 4-3 victory over Uzbekistan, and the two most recent results against Botswana and South Africa.

Reacting after the match, Bay FC striker Racheal Kundananji described the loss as an eye opener.

“This is an eye-opener for us to see where we should work on and focus as we go to the WAFCON,” Kundananji, who has scored 31 goals in 47 appearances for Zambia since her 2018 debut, told SABC Sport.

She added: “I like that we lost; if we had won, we could have relaxed, but now we’re going back to work hard so that when we go to the WAFCON, we need to do our level best.”

Asked about the team’s ambitions heading into the WAFCON, Kundananji remained optimistic and ambitious.

“Step by step. You can never go down; always go up,” she said. “Our aim is to always go up and to do our best; who knows, we can be champions. Which we can do. We have quality in the team, which is worth winning even the Africa Cup. Our target is to just work hard, to be the best, and come back with something.”

Zambia was drawn in Group A alongside hosts Morocco, DR Congo, and Senegal. The Copper Queens will kick off their WAFCON campaign on July 5 against Morocco.

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